Forests as natural climate solutions Miles Grant Director of Publications & Media Relations
Achieving internationally agreed climate targets is likely to require not only rapid decarbonization across all sectors of the economy, but also the removal of massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Protecting and restoring forests currently is the most costeffective way to do that. Already, forests absorb roughly one third of fossil fuel emissions globally. Forest restoration and regrowth could expand that, but specifics of where and how much remain uncertain. Woodwell Climate Research Center continues to be a global leader in
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advancing understanding of the potential of this natural climate solution, and carrying that understanding into the public sphere.
solutions could provide over a third of the emissions reductions needed in the coming decade to limit warming to less than 2°C.
While it is clear that forests have a significant role to play in climate change mitigation globally, incorporating natural climate solutions into emissions reduction and sustainable development goals at the national or local level remains more challenging. Previous work with collaborators at The Nature Conservancy showed that natural climate
More recently, Carbon Program Director Dr. Wayne Walker and former Woodwell Climate Research Assistant Melissa Chapman were part of an effort to assess the potential contribution of ecosystem protection, management, and restoration to the climate plans of tropical nations under the Paris Agreement. Bottom line: the study found that in half of
Climate Science for Change
Fall 2020
